Visiting Speaker Describes Liver Regeneration Research

Dr. Donghun Shin of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine gave a seminar to the Department of Biology in which he described his efforts to understand liver regeneration.

Dr. Shin’s research utilizes the zebrafish model system in studies aimed at identifying the crucial steps involved in the regeneration of liver tissue after a loss of hepatocytes due to damage or disease. Zebrafish have remarkable power to regenerate nearly all of their livers after tissue loss, and Dr. Shin (at right in photo) has uncovered several key elements of the regeneration process, including the finding that hepatocytes may form from other liver cells which have undifferentiated. Efforts in his laboratory continue in the hopes of identifying the genes expressed during liver regeneration and how regeneration relates to the early stages of liver formation in the embryo.

Dr. Shin’s visit was hosted by Dr. Cuong Diep (left) of the IUP Department of Biology.